


Gift

by Scourgefan12



Category: Hellsing
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25464448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scourgefan12/pseuds/Scourgefan12
Summary: The Valentine brothers rarely celebrated each others birthdays, not seeing much reason to. The few times they did, they sure knew how to make a production out of it.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Gift

Luke awoke to the smell of something burning. It took his half awake brain a moment to process exactly what it was, but once he did he shot up, scrambling out of bed.  
  
Their house was burning down. That was the only explanation he could think of, their house was fucking _burning_. He had to go get Jan and get outside. It occurred to him that Jan was most definitely the one responsible for this, but in the moment he couldn't find it in himself to be mad about it, all he could think about was how they needed to get _out_.  
  
He rushed down the stairs, frantically glancing around. No sign of his brother, and also no sign of the fire. Great. Both of those things were further into the house. Trying and failing to calm himself down, he looked for where the smoke seemed to be coming from and began following the trail.  
  
If he were in a calmer state of mind, he would have maybe noticed how little smoke there really was. Or perhaps realized that if there really was a fire, the smoke would absolutely not be what woke him up, but it would have been Jan screaming about it.  
  
Sadly, he was still in panic mode. His mind didn't process either of these things. Instead he was busy thinking about how absolutely fucked they were going to be after this. He was already working an ungodly amount of jobs just to be able to afford what they already had, there was no way in hell they'd be able to pay off the damages from this. He interrupted that train of thought, reminding himself that it didn't _matter_. Who cared whether they had the money to recover from this? All that mattered was that he got Jan out safe and alive.  
  
Frenzied thoughts filled his head, one after the other, until he actually made it to the source of the alleged fire. The kitchen.  
  
Surprising to nobody but himself, there was actually no such thing. No burning furniture, no roaring flames, no nothing. He blinked in confusion, staring at the sight that actually greeted him.  
  
Jan stood next to the stove, arms crossed and muttering to himself. None of what he was saying was quite audible from where Luke was standing, but he didn't sound very happy.  
  
Luke also noted his brother's nervous fidgeting. Jan would tap his foot, switch to drumming his fingers along the kitchen counter, adjust his hat, then cross his arms again and go back to foot tapping. Luke watched this for a few moments before clearing his throat.  
  
Jan visibly startled, spinning around to face his brother. "Oh, uh... shit." He gave a small, awkward laugh. "You're awake already, huh?"  
  
"Apparently, yes." He gave Jan a curious look, his mind switching from confused to suspicious in an instant. "What is going on?"  
  
"Okay, I'll tell you, but you gotta promise not to be mad."   
  
"Why.. would I be mad? What did you _do_?" Something was definitely going on, there was no doubt about that. Luke just hoped nothing was broken this time, though that was the most likely explanation he could think of.  
  
Jan backed up, holding his hands up in a placating manner. "Nothing, really! Just... you gotta promise, okay?"  
  
Luke sighed, mentally preparing himself for whatever this was. "Fine. I won't be mad." His tone made it clear that this was a lie. "Now, what did you do?"  
  
"Well..." Jan hesitated for a few seconds, only causing his brother's suspicion to grow. "You know, you do a lot around here, right? It's fucked up how much you do."  
  
"Flattery will get you nowhere." Honestly, Luke was starting to run out of patience.  
  
"I'm being serious!" Jan insisted. "You cook, you clean, you work like three fucking jobs just so we can afford basic shit. And on top of all that you take care of me, which I know is probably the worst part, I never shut up and I can't stay out of trouble for five fucking minutes, okay? I _know_." He ended his self depreciating tirade, letting out a frustrated groan. Once he calmed down he was back to being nervous and hesitant. "I just... wanted to do something for you, I guess?"  
  
Luke felt his building anger quickly fall away. Really, how could he stay mad when Jan was acting like this? "Alright, and?" He prompted, in a much gentler tone than before.  
  
"And I fucked it up." Jan said as if it were obvious. "I thought I could make you breakfast in bed or some sappy shit like that, but..." He sighed again, looking to the ground in shame. "Just see for yourself." He stepped away from the counter, revealing a plate with the results of his cooking attempt on it.  
  
Luke walked over to get a closer look. What was on the plate had certainly been identifiable as food at some point, but now just looked like a pile of charcoal. He knew without even trying it that it would taste like ash, or rocks, or something of the sort.  
  
Despite how undeniably awful it was, Luke felt a warmth in his chest. He couldn't stop a smile from forming on his face. "Thank you, Jan."  
  
"It fucking sucks, I know, you don't gotta rub it in." Jan looked like he was a few seconds away from pulling his hat over his face, thoroughly embarrassed.  
  
"I'm being serious." He turned to face his brother. "It's... not great, but I really do appreciate it." This was maybe the nicest thing anyone had done for him, but he didn't feel the need to voice that thought. "Just knowing you went through the effort of trying.. it means a lot."  
  
Jan didn't respond right away, mulling over what was being said to him. Once he did speak, he was clearly less upset than before. "Okay, you're welcome I guess. No need to get emotional over it, though."  
  
Emotional? Luke blinked in confusion and... ah. There were tears in his eyes. He rushed to wipe them away, attempting to compose himself. "Right, sorry." He pulled Jan into a hug, holding him tight to his chest. "Really though, thank you."  
  
"Yeah, no problem. And uh.." Jan hesitated, burying his face in Luke's shoulder. "Happy birthday, bro."  
  
Luke took a moment to process that. That was today, wasn't it? With everything else happening he'd completely forgot.  
  
\----------  
  
Fifteen. Jan was turning fifteen today.  
  
On one hand, he was kind of excited. He was almost an adult. Soon he'd be able to drive, and get a job, and drink without worrying about the fact that it was illegal.   
  
On the other hand, there really wasn't anything for him to look forward to. He was just a year older, so what? It wasn't like that changed anything. Him being fifteen wasn't gonna magically make his life any better. Everything was going to stay exactly the same.  
  
There was also the fact that he almost certainly wasn't going to get any presents this year. Their family was broke as shit, he never got any presents. Not that this was super important to him, he supposed he'd rather have a roof stay over their head than get a few gifts that he'd probably break within a week. Really, the only present he could ask for was for their father to be gone for the day. As far as Jan was concerned, any day without him around was incredible. Not having to hide out in his room, or sneak around his own house, or panic at every tiny fucking noise he heard, or-  
  
He firmly pushed those thoughts out of his head. Now wasn't the time for that. Today was supposed to be good, he didn't want to ruin it first thing in the morning.   
  
Regardless of how insignificant his birthday really was, he was still gonna try to enjoy it. He was going to try and get some more sleep, wake up some time in the afternoon, maybe sneak into his dad's booze cabinet, and tonight when his brother got home they were going to spend some time together. It was gonna be fun, damn it.  
  
He was busy thinking of things that could actually count as fun, preferably things he could realistically do, when he was interrupted by a knock at his door, nearly causing him to jump out of bed.  
  
"Jan? I'm heading out." Luke informed him from the other side of the door.  
  
Jan's frazzled nerves and frantic heartbeat calmed a bit at the sound of Luke's voice. He mentally scolded himself for getting so worked up in the first place. Nothing was even happening. It was just his brother heading out for work, that was it. "Okay. See you."  
  
And like that, he was alone again. He laid back down. He knew he wasn't going to have any luck getting back to sleep, but there was no harm in trying, right?  
  
His suspicions were right, he didn't end up getting any more sleep. That was fine though, he didn't need it. He could function just fine on the minimal amount he'd gotten last night.  
  
He loitered around his room for a while. Considered maybe trying to get some homework done, it was starting to pile up. He quickly discarded that idea, though. Homework? On his birthday? Even if he understood a damn thing his teachers were trying to drill into him, he would want nothing to do with that.  
  
After a few hours, he risked a trip outside his room. After looking around, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the house was empty.   
  
Nice. That meant he could do whatever the hell he wanted.  
  
As it turned out, "whatever the hell he wanted" didn't consist of much. All he did was move from his bedroom to the living room and plant himself in front of the tv. Still, he considered that an improvement.  
  
That was where he stayed until night fell, not counting trips to the bathroom and for snacks. As it turned out, letting himself go brain dead in front of the tv was a really enjoyable way to spend his time. It was nice, relaxing. He actually ended up falling asleep at one point.  
  
He didn't remember falling asleep, but he was woken up by the sound of the front door shutting.  
  
He rubbed his eyes, looking up to see Luke locking the door behind him. "Oh shit, hey bro."   
  
"Evening, Jan." He smiled, pocketing his keys before taking a seat next to his brother. "How has your day been?"  
  
"Man, you know. Same shit as usual." He hadn't really done anything, so it wasn't like he had anything to talk about. "How about you?"  
  
"Same as you, I'm afraid." Luke shrugged. Apparently, work had been pretty uneventful. That was probably good. "Except for one thing, actually."  
  
"Oh, for real? What happened?" Jan leaned in, his interest piquing.   
  
Luke didn't answer right away, seeming to become nervous soon after the question was asked. "Well.." He reached into his coat pocket, taking out a small box and handing it to Jan. "Just.. see for yourself."  
  
Jan just stared down at it for a moment. What the fuck was this? Obviously, it was a present, but he hadn't been expecting anything. When did Luke find the money for this? He didn't even open it for a while, surprised at receiving anything at all.  
  
Eventually though, he broke out of his trance and opened it up. What he found was, well... saying it wasn't what he expected went without saying, his expectations were literally fucking nothing.   
  
In his hands, he found a hat. A beanie, to be specific. Dark blue, with a sick design of a yellow eye on the forehead part. He looked at it for a while, running his thumbs over it a few times. It was softer than it looked. He could imagine how nice it would feel to wear.   
  
He broke out of his second trance of the evening, glancing over at Luke. "Bro?"  
  
Luke immediately looked away. "Listen, I know it isn't much. But it's all I could afford, next year I'll try to-"  
  
Jan threw his arms around his brother, pulling him into a crushing hug and effectively cutting him off. "Man, shut the fuck up."   
  
Luke didn't respond, not even to hug Jan back. Though to be fair, his arms were trapped at his sides, so it wasn't like he could even if he wanted to.  
  
"Don't even start with that shit, this is awesome."   
  
"So you... like it?" Luke looked over uncertainly.  
  
"That's what I just fuckin' said, isn't it?" Jan pulled away, giving his brother some room to breathe.   
  
Luke visibly perked up, relaxing at the confirmation. "Good, I'm glad. I thought it was something you'd enjoy since I first saw it."  
  
"You got a good eye then, this is some top notch shit." Jan knocked off the hat he was currently wearing, replacing it with his new one. As he expected, it was really comfortable.  
  
He realized there was a dumbass smile on his face, but he couldn't be bothered to wipe it off. "Seriously bro, thanks." He went in for another hug, a gentler one this time, which Luke could actually return. "And uh.. really, don't worry about getting me anything next year."  
  
"Are you sure?"   
  
"Yeah, for real." He closed his eyes, just resting against his brother. "This is.. it's more than enough, really."

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot articulate how much I love these 2, I think about them so much. I wanted to write something soft with them  
> Ft. A couple misc headcanons about their lives pre-Millennium


End file.
